Photo: Cunard
The cruise, operated by Cunard, departs New York, crosses the Atlantic Ocean to tour Europe, the Middle East, and the Arabian Peninsula through the Suez Canal, Asia, and Australia before looping around. The ship itself, the world’s only ocean liner, has 13 decks, two pools, daily afternoon tea, several restaurants, a theater, a planetarium, and one of the largest ballrooms at sea. It can accommodate 2,691 guests and is pet friendly — because leaving your pet home for four months could be a bit problematic.
Photo: Cunard
The cruise is extremely costly. The cheapest booking starts at $15,149 per person, though you can also choose to book any of the two- to three-week-long legs of the trip separately if you can’t quite commit to 118 days at sea.
The Queen Mary 2 embarked on a similar voyage last year but was forced to cut the journey short in March due to the outbreak of COVID-19. Booking a trip for 2022 might seem like a safe bet at this point, but with the global situation changing at unpredictable rates, you should probably have a contingency plan in place. 